


I didn't wanna fall (but then I stepped right in)

by defenceless



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Cuddling, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Harry Styles - Freeform, Hugging, Louis Tomlinson - Freeform, Louis Tomlinson Wears Harry Styles's Clothes, Louis Tomlinson in turtlenecks, M/M, Oblivious Louis Tomlinson, Pining, Pining Harry Styles, They also love each other a lot, hand holding, larry - Freeform, soft, the song lyrics are very important in this, they both love coats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:48:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23937907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/defenceless/pseuds/defenceless
Summary: "'Flowers bloomed when he walked. Angels sang when he talked.' I heard this line way back once in the radio and the first thing that came to my mind was you."Harry lends his coat to Louis. When Louis is home, he realizes he still has Harry’s coat and finds Harry’s iPod. Out of curiosity, Louis looks through Harry’s music and finds a playlist titled with his name.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 63
Kudos: 351





	I didn't wanna fall (but then I stepped right in)

**Author's Note:**

> Playlist: https://music.apple.com/mx/playlist/𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒐𝒖-𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕/pl.u-V9D7gpJH1m30Wg?l=en
> 
> Hi !! This is my first finished fic in a long, long time since I last wrote something and it makes me very happy to finally be sharing it.
> 
> Before anything else, I wanna give the biggest thanks to Andy not only for finding me the prompt but also for making the amazing playlist that goes with the story and for pushing me to start writing. I love you a lot.
> 
> Also, thank you so so much to Luciwii, Arely, Ninis and Aliss for always reading me and having encouraged me the past four days for me to actually pull through and finish it.
> 
> I really really hope you enjoy reading it.

Louis felt his eyelids on the verge of closing without his permission, sleep taking over his body and blue eyes burning behind his glasses. He had been staring at his computer screen for hours, even after getting home from work he still wasn’t done with all the stuff he had to finish before the next day.

Words seemed to blur together with every blink he took, long eyelashes casting shadows atop his cheekbones and a sudden impulse of snapping his laptop shut and just going to bed seemed to overtake his body with every second that passed. But he knew he couldn’t do that, he was way too much of a perfectionist in every little thing he did. Even more so at his job.

His phone buzzed lowly, a tiny hum in the middle of his silent house that snapped his attention away from the brilliant screen. His eyes fell on the smaller one, watching a message pop up.

_Go to sleep._

He huffed a small laugh, grabbing the phone between his hands and typing away quickly.

_You go to sleep. Why are you awake?_

_Funny, I wonder the same thing about you._

Louis clicked on the call button, being answered barely seconds later.

“Go to sleep, Louis. You’re going to be moody tomorrow.” The blue eyed boy smiled at the deep voice crooning through the speakers on his phone, filling every corner of his flat.

“As if I could. I have work to do.” he muttered, hearing the other guy groaning at his words.

“You need to take care of yourself, too.”

“I can see you frowning all the way from here. I’m fine, stop worrying about me so much.”

Harry bit his lip, pacing around his kitchen, socked feet padding slightly at the wooden floors. He smiled at Louis’ comment, leaning in the counter border. “You make it very difficult for me not to do it.”

“Wait. No. Hold on. Why are you awake? You’re out here lecturing me when you’re losing sleep too.”

Louis heard shuffling on the line, probably from Harry fiddling around before answering. He did that sometimes, when he tried to put his thoughts into words but found it difficult to. 

“I knew you would stay up for far too long. I wanted to see how much it would take for you to admit you need a break.” the boy muttered, playing with the strings in his hoodie. He heard Louis let out a small giggle, sounding almost relieved about the fact that he wasn’t working like him. “You haven’t had dinner, have you?”

“Will you tell me off if I tell you I haven’t?”

“Hm…” Harry smiled, pleased with knowing he had been right. “No, I won’t. What I will do is go over and make us something. How does that sound?’”

Louis’ eyes moved to his computer once again, falling in the white numbers announcing the hour. Almost 1 am.

“It’s late, H. Don’t wanna make you drive all the way here.”

“Hey, I offered. And I want to.” he added, putting the call in speaker and reaching for his red coat, throwing it on despite the fact that he was clearly underdressed for the weather, wearing jeans and a vintage t-shirt under a black hoodie. “Please?”

“Fine.” Louis sighed, a small smile appearing on his face. The first glint of happiness he had shown over the last stressful days at work. “But you better make me pasta or something like that. It’s been way too long since you last cooked for me.”

“I could do it more often, if you wanted to.”

“Yeah? You won’t say no if I call you at, lets say, three in the morning telling you I’m craving your cinnamon rolls?”

Harry smiled fondly, closing the door to his house and unlocking his car. “You know I would never say no to you.”

[♡]

A doorbell ringing took Louis’ focus away from his screen, making him get up quickly to unlock the entrance from his camera panel. 

As he did, he observed Harry waiting for the door to open, smiling at the camera, all wrapped up in a coat that fit him perfectly and a scarf that was the same colour as his hoodie. It had started snowing, not a lot, but just enough for tiny droplets of snow to be seen in his hair through the not so high definition security panel. Louis moved once he heard the entrance door unlock, going out to find him on the threshold.

“Hi there.” Harry breathed out, handing Louis a beige reusable bag. “I come bearing food.”

Louis grasped the bag handles between his hands, peeking inside to see the contents. “I have enough food in here, H. You didn’t need to buy more stuff.”

Harry gave him a look that said _I know_ , unwrapping the scarf from around his neck and walking inside, Louis following from behind. “It’s not for the actual food, just some sweets.” he removed his shoes, lining them next to Louis’ and entering the kitchen.

He went to wash his hands while Louis set the bag on his small table for four, sitting in one of the chairs and moving around the stuff inside the bag, cookies and a box with fresh strawberries catching his eye.

Harry started drying his hands, grabbing an apron and turning to look at Louis with a fond look on his face. “You like to eat sweet stuff when work gets to be too much. I thought it would be a good idea.”

Louis looked from the bag to him, smiling warmly, glasses sliding a bit down his nose. “Thank you.”

The taller boy noticed and went up to him, taking the glasses off of his face and folding the sleek black temples, putting them on the back pocket of his jeans. “You should sleep a bit.”

“I’m fine.” Louis shook his head a bit before Harry grabbed it between his hands, thumbing under his eyes. Louis closed them, leaning his head on Harry’s left hand, sighing. “I just need to finish editing one more chapter.” he let his forehead rest in Harry’s stomach, burrowing his face in his soft hoodie. “You’re warm.”

Harry blushed, moving his hands to play with Louis’ hair, cradling him softly. “Am I?”

“I don’t get how you can be warm when it’s literally snowing. It’s so annoying.”

“Ah, is it?” he laughed, watching Louis mumble the words against his hoodie, not moving from his place.

“Yes, it is. I’m always cold no matter how much stuff I wear. I mean, I have a turtleneck on and I’m still shivering” Louis made a show of shaking even more, making Harry snort. “This is very serious, H. I can’t believe you’re making fun of me dying from cold weather.” he shook his head disappointedly, Harry’s hands grabbing the sides of his neck and detaching him from his hoodie. 

Louis was about to protest, continuing the joke, but the words died in his throat when he saw Harry take off his black hoodie.

“Hands up.” Harry said, bunching the hoodie in his hands.

“Hey, no.” Louis protested, blue eyes softening at the boy in front of him “I’m joking. You’re going to catch a cold, put it back on.” he tried pushing Harry’s hands away, but the taller guy didn’t move an inch.

“You just said it, I'm always warm. I don't want _you_ to catch a cold” he raised his hands, putting the hoodie through Louis’ head. “Hands up, please?” he tilted his head, showing off his dimples at the boy sitting in front of him.

Louis sighed, letting out an amused smile while shaking his head. When he closed his eyes and raised his hands, Harry put the hoodie on him, warm hands rearranging it to cling onto Louis’ body in a comfortable way. It was noticeably bigger, but that fact only made it comforting. Partly thanks to the material, but mostly because of Harry’s natural body temperature and the smell of his cologne faintly impregnated on it. Louis opened his eyes, watching Harry crouch in front of him to tie the strings of the hoodie in a bow.

“Thank you.” Louis gave him a soft smile, Harry's fingers catching in the hoodie strings, feeling how his heart strings did the same thing inside his chest at the sight of Louis looking impossibly cuddly and warm while wearing _his_ hoodie. 

But he didn’t do anything else besides returning the smile and dropping the strings, standing up from the floor and breaking their eye contact, hands going straight to pet Louis’ hair delicately. “Rest a little bit. At least while I do the pasta.”

Louis hummed, looking up at him and grabbing his wrist, resting it against his mouth. He spoke again, thumbing at it almost unconsciously. “Fine. But wake me up as soon as you finish, ‘kay?” 

Harry felt like he was about to melt into a puddle, freeing his wrist from louis’ hand and instead grabbing the boy’s hand with his now free one. “I promise. Now go.” he squeezed softly, Louis using their hold as leverage to get up and walk to the couch in the living room situated in front of the kitchen, dropping himself on top and burrowing further in Harry’s hoodie.

Harry was fairly sure that’s what happiness felt like. It made no sense that happiness for him could be something else besides Louis being happy and looking soft, knowing he had helped for it to happen.

  
[♡]

Louis was woken up gently, big hands rubbing his shoulder and squeezing slightly.

“I’m not up.” he mumbled, turning away from the movement and planting his face in the fluffy cushion he had grabbed in the middle of his sleep.

The boy heard a low chuckle, feeling the couch going down with the weight of another person sitting down beside his legs, hands rubbing his shoulders almost as if they were trying to massage the stress out of his body with every move.

“Food is ready, you can sleep after.” Harry spoke, laughing at Louis’ groaning. “You hate eating on the couch. Come on, get up.” 

Louis sat up, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand and giving Harry a sheepish smile. “Not today. ‘M too tired to go to the table.” he yawned, stretching slightly. Harry simply shook his head, standing up and fetching their plates from the kitchen table.

“I seriously can’t recall a day where you let someone eat while sitting on your couch.” he got back next to Louis, giving him one of the plates, a fork already buried in the pasta. “You’re always extremely careful with your stuff. Especially at home.”

He watched the other boy stick the fork in his mouth, closing his eyes and letting out a little noise of approval before speaking again after he had swallowed down the portion. “That’s because other people rarely come to my house. How am I going to let them do something here when they’ve never actually, you know, been here.” he shrugged, sticking the fork in his mouth again.

“Does it upset you?” Harry asked, turning halfway on the couch to look at Louis. Louis only furrowed his perfectly defined brows, looking confused at the question. “Me always coming here, I mean. I know you don’t like people invading your space unannounced.” 

Louis gave him a fond look. “You being here could never upset me.” He gestured at his pasta plate, rolling more of it in the fork. “Who else would cook for me at one in the morning?” Harry smiled at him, and Louis put his plate on the small coffee table in front of the couch they were sitting in, next to Harry’s plate, a serious look on his face. “Hey, H. I love it when you come here. You’re not like anyone else.”

Harry leaned in closer, an almost imperceptible smugness pulling at his smile. “Oh, I’m not?”

“Of course you’re not.” Louis rolled his eyes, watching him with an incredulous gaze. “I thought you already knew that.”

“I like hearing you say it, though.” he spoke, green eyes locking with Louis’ blue ones. 

“Why, because my voice is pretty?” the blue eyed boy asked in a playful tone, barely noticing Harry’s sudden proximity. He tilted his head, his cheek meeting Harry’s forearm. He leaned it there, looking up at Harry through his long eyelashes.

The guy let out a small puff of laughter at the question, caging Louis in while intertwining his arms around his neck, Louis’ arms going to wind up in his middle. 

“You’re pretty in all aspects and you know that.” Louis just made a humming sound, hands tracing figures in Harry’s back, not giving the conversation all his focus. Harry spoke again, noticing he was concentrating on something else. “What are you doing?”

“Since when do you exercise so much that your back feels like this?” he questioned, eyes not looking at his face but rather over his shoulder.

“Like what?”

“You know, strong.” Louis said, leaning back a bit in Harry’s arms to look up at him. “Are you trying to impress someone?”

Harry shook his head closing his eyes, sighing and then opening them again, pulling Louis backwards and ending up on top of him, using his arms as leverage.

“I don’t know. Are _you_ impressed?”

Louis’ eyes looked slightly shocked at the electric charge of emotions he suddenly felt overtake his body. It was as if he was hyper aware of every small touch they had in that moment, legs tangled and faces inches apart from each other. 

His voice sounded a bit quieter, softer. “What happens if I say yes?”

Harry traced every detail of his face with his eyes before answering. “Whatever you want to happen.” he replied, leaning down and pressing a close mouthed kiss to the place where Louis’ jawline and his neck met. 

It was a chaste kiss, a kiss in a place where they had kissed to say _goodbye_ and _hello_ to each other many times before, yet this time it didn’t feel the same as the others for Louis. 

He felt like he was going to melt down at any moment. After having been so shivery before, he now was left wondering how feeling cold was even like. It was as if his body was reacting to _harryharryharry_ , his mere presence sending all his senses into overdrive.

Before he could even question what that meant, Harry gave him a lingering look and straightened himself, standing from the couch. “I should get going, it’s getting late.” he spoke, giving a quick look at Louis, still laying down in the same position from seconds before. Harry had to tear his gaze away from his face and soft expression before he ended up pinning him down again and never actually leaving, running his hand through his curly lockets “Don’t stay awake for too long, okay?” 

When Louis saw Harry putting on his coat he shot up from the couch as if he had been let free from some kind of dream, walking towards him and slipping his shoes on at the same time Harry did. “Let me walk you out.”

He followed Harry until the entrance, the taller boy turning to stop him. “It’s cold and you’re going to catch something if you go out all sleepy warm. I can close the gate, don’t worry.” he tugged at the strings of the black hoodie bringing Louis in close to his body and wrapping him up into a hug, Louis returning it and letting himself sink into Harry’s arms almost as a reflex. “Sleep well.”

They both let go of each other, Harry giving him a last glance, a quick one over as if he wanted to make sure he was good to be left on his own in the middle of the night before opening the door and stepping out into the cold.

When the door closed behind him, Louis waited until he saw him close the gate and get up on his car, driving away from his street before letting his body drop his back on the closed door, almost as if he had been a puppet whose strings were cut off. He breathed in deeply, clutching his chest with both hands.

_What on earth just happened?_

It was only then, when his fingers caught on the black fabric, that he realised he was still wearing Harry’s hoodie.

[♡]

“Mr. Tomlinson, is everything okay?”

Louis shook himself out of his thoughts, raising his head to look at one of the girls from the marketing team waiting in front of his desk.

“Yes, yes, it’s all good. Do you need anything?” the girl gave him a funny look when he was quick to reassure her, a crimson tint appearing high on his cheekbones. He just smiled at her, shrugging and removing his glasses, rubbing his eyes carefully with both hands.

He watched the girl take some papers out of a big binder, handing them to him. “It’s one of the revisions sent back with notes from the author, I was told to give them to you.”

“Ah, yes, that’s perfect. Thank you so much.” he slipped his glasses back on, papers in one hand. The girl didn’t go away though, lingering uncomfortably by his desk. “Is there anything else?”

“Um, there’s someone that called some minutes ago asking for you. They were told to wait until you were finished with work, since you told us not to interrupt while editing the manuscript earlier.”

Louis frowned, placing the papers on top of his desk and checking his phone. He didn’t have new messages, only a couple from some of his coworkers sending him documents he needed to check out. He moved his gaze back to the marketing girl. “Didn’t you get a name?”

She grimaced, shaking her head. “No. I’m sorry, Mr. Tomlinson, one of the guys told me to pass on the message.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Thank you for telling me.”

“It’s nothing.” the girl waved him goodbye and took her bag from the table behind her, walking out of the editing area and going straight to the doors of that floor.

Louis sighed, dropping back onto his chair and looking up to the ceiling. 

He kept thinking about Harry. 

It wasn’t like it was anything new, he used to think about him before too. That’s what’s supposed to happen with best friends, right? You think of them and get reminded of them by small things.

Like that one time one of the guys in the office had a box of cookies and he thought of Harry because chocolate chip ones were his favourites. Or when a girl mentioned a cologne name in passing and Louis’ mind immediately went to the hoodie back at his apartment, smelling of that same cologne because it’s the one he gave to Harry some months ago as a gift and once he tried it on he couldn’t bring himself to stop wearing it, saying he loved it too much to not use it, quickly becoming his signature scent in Louis’ mind.

But it was as if those small glimpses of him in his daily life had become way more persistent, more obvious than anything else. It was as if they were highlighted in bright yellow, popping up in his head every single time he saw something that reminded him of Harry. _Hey, do you also remember how he caged you in, on your pristine white sofa and your heart raced almost as much as racing cars do? Can you recall that too?_

It was embarrassing. 

He just didn’t get it. They had been acting that way their whole lives. If he actually thought about it, there wasn’t one day where they weren’t that close, where they didn’t give each other mindless, affective small touches that said _I’m here. I’m with you._

So it was pretty much safe to say he felt shaken to the core, a weird fluttering appearing at the base of his stomach and in his chest whenever he remembered that night. He didn’t know why it felt different, why the touches and the hoodie and the goddamn _kiss_ were making feelings he didn’t know were buried deep in his body and soul resurface to the top.

He was about to start replaying the scenes of that night in his mind again, trying to find a reason, an explanation to _why_ he was feeling like that when his phone started blasting on full volume, sound becoming way louder on the empty floor.

“Tomlinson.” he answered, without even looking at the id to see who was calling at 10 pm. On a Wednesday.

“It’s been so long since I last heard your work voice.” Louis scrambled to sit the right way when he heard the deep voice of his best friend through the line. “I don’t know how you manage to sound so serious, though.”

“I’m sorry, hi.” he spoke again, voice lowering to his normal timbre, letting out a nervous breath. “I didn’t check who was calling.”

“Do you normally get work calls at this hour?” Harry sounded curious, making Louis smile a bit at the honesty he could always feel from him, even when they weren’t face to face. 

He hummed lowly, squinting at his computer screen. “Sometimes. When things are really busy up here I do.”

Harry made a noise signaling he understood, speaking again after a few seconds. “How much longer until you leave the office?”

“I don’t really know… I could squeeze in more work for a few hours, get a bit ahead of schedule. Why are you asking?”

“Um. Oh. Nothing. Don’t overwork yourself, yeah?” Louis frowned, about to speak again when he remembered the marketing girl and the message. 

_There’s someone that called asking for you._

“Harry.”

“Yes?”

“Are you at my work right now?”

Louis could hear wind through the line, and he turned his chair to look out of the window. Lowering his gaze, he saw a military green coat on the sidewalk, recognising the person wearing it immediately. He could feel a familiar nervousness and excitement bubbling under his veins.

“More like outside of your work.” Harry spoke. “The wind is pretty bad on here. Please tell me you’ve got a coat on you.”

The boy with the blue eyes was already shooting out of his chair, turning the computer off and shrugging his coat out of the hanger that was next to his desk. “Yes, yes. I do, god, who do you take me for? Why are you in the cold for starters, you should’ve waited in the library…” Louis rambled, barely hearing Harry’s laughter from the other side of the line.

“Louis. Stop. I’m fine, I love cold weather. Stop worrying about me.”

Louis didn’t pay him any mind, wrapping a black scarf around his neck “Wait there, I’ll be down in like… three minutes.”

“Hey, no. I don’t want to keep you from your work-”

Louis’ mouth was already tumbling words out of it before his brain could even catch up, interrupting the other boy. “You came here to see me. Right?”

Harry replied immediately. “Yes, I did.”

The line fell silent, lift doors opening and Louis getting to see his face blushing at his words. He spoke up again, lowering his voice, tone as soft and low as it is when you share a secret with someone. “I want to see you, too.”

It was not everyday that someone got the chance to listen to a shy Louis Tomlinson.

Harry spoke again, voice softer this time, almost as if he were holding Louis through the phone. “You do?”

Louis gave a tiny smile at his reflection, biting his bottom lip. “You know I do, H.”

He hung up, not waiting for a reply. Keeping his phone in his coat pocket, he looked at his reflection again, blush thankfully going down rather quickly.

Louis spoke up again, this time to himself. “Calm down. He’s your friend and you’re happy to see him. That’s all.” he pointed at his reflection, glad no one else was there to watch him do all of that freaking out over someone he had known for more years he could count with his hands. “You’re going to be okay.”

The boy then took a breath and let it out, turning around to walk out of the lift.

As soon as he opened the doors to the building Harry walked up to him, stopping himself in front of Louis in a way that meant he got most of the wind and blocked Louis’ body from it.

“Hi.” he spoke, looking down at the blue eyed boy. “Are you okay?” 

Louis smiled warmly at him, tugging at one of the buttons in his military green coat. “Hello to you, too. What are you doing here?” His fingers kept fiddling with the button absentmindedly, sticking his hand inside of one of the coat pockets when the wind picked up again. 

Harry noticed that, sticking his hand inside too and enveloping Louis’ smaller one in his, intertwining their fingers inside the pocket. “Felt like seeing you” he shrugged, squeezing their hands tighter when he finished talking.

“You should’ve given me a call instead of waiting in the cold.” Louis scolded him, cheeks getting rosy thanks in part to the weather and partly because of this tall, cute boy grabbing onto his hand softly but firmly at the same time.

“I didn’t want to be a distraction. Your job is hard enough, you’re not going to get behind because of me.”

“You’re not a distraction, H.” 

Harry blushed slightly, eyes scanning Louis’ face and then falling on his black scarf, a glint of recognition appearing in them. “Is this mine?” he asked, free hand reaching up and tugging at the edges of it, smiling almost teasingly. 

“Oh, yes, you left it at home last time…” Louis mumbled, pulling away to unroll the scarf from around his neck, Harry’s hands gripping his and stopping him.

“Keep it. It’s cold, and I’m pretty sure you have nothing but a turtleneck on under your coat.”

The guy huffed, looking up and faking annoyance. “Is there something wrong with that?” he crossed his arms, tilting his head and squinting his eyes at Harry.

Harry let out an amused smile, shaking his head. “Only that I can’t see you in it because of the weather.” Louis giggled, Harry grabbing the edges of his scarf again and tugging him in, walking backwards and making Louis walk looking to the front, not putting up any protest at Harry guiding him. “Let’s go eat something. Are you hungry?”

“God, yes.” the guy put his hands atop Harry’s without even thinking of it, continuing walking like that. “I’m craving dumplings from that tiny restaurant…”

“Let’s go, then.” Harry moved to walk beside Louis, left hand holding onto his right one. “How was work?”

“You know, the usual” Louis swinged their hands between them, Harry lacing their fingers. “Reading a lot, editing a lot, being my perfectionist self” the other boy laughed at that, Louis smiling at the sound of it. “And you? You’ve been fine lately, yeah?”

“Yes, yes. I’m better now, though.”

“Really?”

Harry nodded, turning to look at Louis. He looked ethereal, tiny snow droplets catching on his hair, tip of his nose and cheekbones blushing dimly enough you’d had to really pay attention to notice it. Wrapped up in Harry’s scarf and what Harry knew was Louis’ favourite coat, a wool light brown coloured thing, neutral tones looking unfairly good on him.

Harry could only answer “Yes, really.” voice barely above a whisper, feeling breathless at the sight Louis represented beside him, just by being himself.

[♡]

“So you’re telling me you still don’t like scones?”

“Sometimes they’re, you know...” Louis did hand gestures, small scowl in his face “dry.”

Harry smiled fondly at him, putting another dumpling in Louis’ plate. “They’re supposed to be that way. I remember you complained about that too when we first ate them together.”

“But your homemade ones don’t taste like someone dumped sand in my mouth.” he fought back, smiling when Harry started coughing, shoulders shaking with laughter. “See, you can’t even deny it. Your scones are the only good ones, all the others are crap.”

“Then... you wouldn’t be up to having them for dessert?”

“Not unless you were the one making them.” Louis said, sticking a dumpling in his mouth at the implication of going back to Harry’s place for that to happen. When he swallowed he spoke again. “I mean, in the future. Maybe.”

The other boy just shook his head, sticking out his hand to wipe at Louis’ lips with a napkin. “Stop being so cute.”

Louis just took another dumpling in his mouth, lowering his gaze when Harry’s eyes made him feel like his nervousness was obvious to the other boy.

[♡]

They were holding hands again. 

As soon as they stepped foot out of the tiny dumplings place Harry reached out to wrap Louis in the black scarf properly, tucking the edges in and making sure he was covered enough from the wind before stepping back, hands dropping to his sides. 

Louis could physically feel a pull between them, almost pleadingly. _Why do I want to feel his skin next to mine?_

_Why?_

He was confused. 

Louis had never in his life hesitated to reach out for Harry. It was engraved in his brain almost as a second nature, a normal impulse to just _touch._ He was a natural cuddler, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to be touchy with people he trusted. It was his way of showing affection, most of the time doing it absentmindedly. 

He guessed that was why he never actually noticed how _Harry_ was the one that always reached out to him, the one that initiated the small touches, hands managing to always find their way to each other. Let it be while shopping and sharing grazes of their fingers when they showed stuff to the other asking for opinions or while walking, Harry always tugging Louis _close, close, close_ to his side, wrapping his arm either around his waist or his shoulders, tugging him in, almost as if he couldn’t function if Louis wasn’t at a reachable distance.

So when Harry’s hand came down and felt his own, his mouth went dry. 

How was he supposed to not freak out internally when it was as if his heart had free reign over his mind and body?

Louis could only listen to him wonder why his hands were always cold, not daring to open his mouth even if it was to let out a comment about how it wasn’t his fault Harry was a walking stove even in winter. Not even a second later, Louis felt a warmer hand envelop his smaller one, fitting in every little empty place in a way only someone that had known you inside and out for years could. 

“You really need to start wearing gloves.”

“You really need to comprehend that your natural body heat is _not_ normal and me being cold is not that big of a deal, H.”

Harry stopped walking, turning to look at Louis. “You really need to stop blowing me off when I worry about you.” he bit his bottom lip, looking dubious before dropping Louis’ hand and starting to take off his coat.

“What on earth are you doing?” Louis rushed to tug at the lapels of the green coat, trying to put it back on Harry’s shoulder. “You’re going to catch a cold.”

The taller boy paid him no mind, removing both sleeves and grabbing the coat by the collar, Louis’ hands still clasped in the lapels. “No, I’m not. But you are.” Harry pried his hands away gently, opening his arms as if he were to embrace Louis, letting the coat drape over his back. 

Louis watched him button the coat at the front, not even bothering to put it on properly, sleeves hanging by his sides. His mouth twisted in a pout. “You don’t need to do this. It upsets me.”

“What is upsetting from it?” Harry put his hands on each side of Louis’ neck, blue eyes looking up at him. “Tell me.”

“You always do things for me and I don’t want you to feel like you’re… forced to do them. It makes me mad to think you might feel that way.” 

“Hey. No. Look at me” Harry thumbed at Louis’ cheek, almost absentmindedly. His eyes were dripping with softness when he found Louis’ ones. “I care for you. And I _like_ taking care of you.” The ‘ _and I like you’_ was left unsaid. “You never make me feel like that. I’ve told you.”

“I should take care of you, too.” Louis muttered, leaning his head slightly on the hand that was caressing his cheek. “Doesn’t it feel a little unfair?”

“You’re always taking care of a lot of things. Of me, too, even if you don’t realise it.”

“But still…”

“Louis.” Harry caught his attention again, the protest dying in his mouth when he saw the look of honesty in his green eyes. “Sometimes you need to let someone take care of you too. And it makes me happy to know that, out of all the people in the world, I can be that someone that looks out for you just because I want to. _I want to,_ Louis.”

Louis turned his head just enough to be able to press his lips to Harry’s hand, a tiny point of contact that couldn’t even be called a kiss. It was just a small gesture, one that said _thank you_ without him having to express it out loud.

“Take me home, H.” he murmured, voice going soft at the look in Harry’s eyes, nerves and happiness bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

Harry just took the sleeves of the green coat, tugging Louis along with him in the dark of the night, below the stars shining in the sky and the lights of the streetlamps adorning the boulevard.

_Did I always have the longing to kiss you hidden inside of me?_

[♡]

Louis dropped on his bed, the weight of the day crashing down on him almost as if someone had dumped a pile of bricks on top of his body, weighing him down so hard he felt the mattress was going to swallow him whole in any moment.

He hadn’t even changed into comfortable clothes, he had just dropped down straight on his plush white covers, sighing loudly at the feeling of fluffiness on his tired body. Louis rolled himself so he was laying on his back, staring at the ceiling and pushing his shoulders upwards so he could furrow on his coat, breathing the elegant cologne in deeply and letting out a tiny noise of happiness.

When he took another breath he frowned, sitting straight on his bed and tugging at the lapels of it. 

That wasn’t his coat. 

Once again, he had somehow managed to keep another piece of Harry’s closet, eyes drifting to the black hoodie hanging from his bathroom door handle and then dropping to see the scarf hanging from his neck, a hard contrast to the deep green colour of the coat.

Louis shook his head, going to remove the scarf. “You need to stop raiding his clothes.” he muttered, holding the black piece of fabric between his hands and looking at it almost in an accusatory way. “It’s not like you two are dating or something, god.” he kept talking, a blush covering the high of his cheekbones. “It’s not a big deal…” 

He was about to tug the coat off of him when he felt one side heavier than the other, curiosity making him stick his hand in the right pocket, fingers bumping into tangled earphones and a cold, metallic surface. Louis grasped the thing in his hand, pulling it out and turning it over so he could take a better look of it.

It was an iPod, one of the older models, earphones plugged in and completely intertwined, making the boy huff out a laugh. 

“Always so messy, H.” he said, endearment dripping with each word involuntarily. 

Louis turned the iPod on, starting to browse through Harry’s music. His birthday was going to be in a few months, and Louis liked to prepare his gifts, taking the time to look for stuff he knew the other person would like. He could always give him a couple of albums, he thought, fingers skimming through the songs. Louis knew Harry loved that kind of gifts, the small ones that showed you actually cared and paid attention to the small details almost everyone overlooked.

He was scrolling through his recent playlists, humming the lyrics to 505 by Arctic Monkeys when his blue eyes caught onto something on the screen, fingers tightening around the tiny device and humming stopping abruptly in his mouth.

There, written in bold, black letters was the short version of his name, a term of endearment Harry used to call him when they were younger, cuter, more innocent versions of themselves.

_Loulou’s playlist._

Louis clicked on it.

[♡]

“Hey, I know you didn’t do it.”

_My friend, instant alibi._

Louis kneeled in front of his friend, hard concrete scraping his school uniform. Harry looked up from between his legs, teary green eyes finding Louis’ blue ones, concern obvious on his face at the sight of him crying.

_You've seen me from every side._

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t want to upset anyone.” he mumbled, Louis’ hands coming up to dry his damp cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

Louis sat down next to him, leaning his head on Harry’s shoulder. “Don’t apologise to me. I know you. You aren’t a bad person, Harry.”

_Who could take your place?_

_Who could take mine?_

Harry extended his arm, grabbing one of Louis’ hands with his. “You’re my best friend, Loulou.”

_None could take your place_

Louis grasped his hand tighter, turning his head upwards to look at him. “You’re mine, too.”

_None could take mine._

[♡]

The first time Louis wore Harry’s clothes was on december.

Snow was covering the streets, morning daylight barely making it through the thick fog of the early hours of the day. Harry was sitting on his couch, blanket thrown over his legs and an old christmas movie playing on tv. He was barely paying attention to it, eyelids almost shutting down when he felt someone else curl up next to him, toes wiggling trying to get under the fluffy blanket.

He raised his arm, Louis fitting himself in the space below it, throwing his own arm across Harry’s chest and pressing the side of his face in the place where his neck and collarbones met.

“Morning to you too” he spoke, Louis ignoring him and snuggling closer, almost as if he were trying to absorb all his body heat. “Someone is cuddly today.”

“I’m cold.” the blue eyed boy mumbled against his crewneck. Harry held him a bit more tightly at his words, looking down to ask him if he wanted another blanket when he saw it.

_I still remember, third of December, me in your sweater._

He blushed at the sight of Louis wearing his clothes, even if it wasn’t intentional or didn’t even mean anything for the boy with sleepy blue eyes. For a second he got scared Louis might’ve noticed his heart beating like crazy on his chest, but he breathed out when he didn’t say anything.

“It looks good on you. The sweater, I mean.” he said, voice lowering in order not to disturb Louis, who seemed to be more at the edge of falling asleep than being conscious, just like Harry had been before he found himself with the boy cuddling into him, mind startling awake.

He could feel his smile through the thick material of his hoodie. “Does it? I’ve always thought it looks better on you.” Louis spoke, voice soft and dream like, making Harry feel like he was melting despite the cold around them. Almost as if they were in their own bubble of warmth, locking anything else outside. Just him and Louis in that breach of time, together. “I took it cause I remembered you like it.” he admitted, eyes shutting completely and arm tightening across Harry’s chest.

_You said it looked better on me than it did you._

Harry ran his free hand through Louis’ fringe, eyelashes somehow looking even longer than when he was awake and mouth twisted in a little pout, looking soft and calm clutched between his arm and the side of his body. 

His throat felt tight, almost as if he were fighting back tears at the feelings the guy with blue eyes awakened in him.

_Only if you knew, how much I liked you._

[♡]

Louis was walking down the sidewalk when Harry bumped into him, making him look up from his black converse over to him, letting out a warm smile in his direction. 

“Hey, Lou.”

“Hi, H.”

Harry walked quietly beside him, stealing curious glances at his side profile while matching his footsteps to Louis’ ones so they could walk side by side. “Are you doing anything later?” he asked, looping his fingers on his backpack strings and watching Louis put on a wondering face.

“Hm, I don’t know.” he stopped, turning to look at him. “I might go on a blind date, see what all the fuss about those is about.”

“Really?” Harry squinted his eyes at him, smiling when Louis laughed at his expression. Once he quieted down, he spoke again. “I’m sure they’re boring.”

“You’ve never been in one?”

“No.” Louis watched the tall boy shake his head, curls looking soft under the sun shining above them both. “We don’t need them, anyway.”

“We don’t?” the blue eyed guy tilted his head, looking up at him. “Why is that?”

_I wanna pick you up and scoop you out._

Harry looked away, Louis’ eyes making his knees feel weak in the middle of the street.

He ignored the question, not looking back at Louis while he replied. “Let’s go to that bakery we found last week.”

Louis bumped his shoulder to his arm, making him drag his gaze towards him again. 

“Fine. But only if you buy me a cupcake with almond frosting.” he gave him a smug smile, making Harry laugh, hands tightening again on his backpack straps. 

He really, _really_ wanted to kiss the smugness off of Louis’ knowing smile. 

At the end he just ended up giving in, voicing what the other boy already knew. “I would buy you the entire bakery if you wanted, Louis.”

Louis’ eyes crinkled with laughter, reaching up to Harry’s backpack straps, placing his hand on the free place above Harry’s “You should. But not the scones, they’re awful.”

“I could bake you some, one day. Just to prove to you they aren’t that bad.”

Louis hummed, nodding at his words. “That sounds good.” he said, tugging playfully at the straps, starting to walk backwards and guiding Harry. “I would love that.”

Both of them smiled brightly at each other, Louis completely oblivious to Harry’s fond eyes drinking the sight of him in.

_I want the secrets your secrets haven't found._

[♡]

They cuddled.

Not a lot. Not very often. But the fact that when they did it felt like two pieces of a puzzle fitting perfectly together messed up with Louis’ mind sometimes. 

He prefered not giving much thought to it even when there were times when he wished he could simply spend weeks wrapped up in Harry’s arms, just like that october night.

It was chilly, but certainly not the kind of chilly that required for them to hug each other to gain warmth and not die from shivering in the streets. Yet his arm was around Harry’s waist and Harry was pulling him in when they walked through big groups of people, refusing to let go of each other. It had been a while since they had gone out together, both too busy trying to be responsible adults. But somehow they always made it work, Harry picking up Louis from his work and driving them to that tiny autumnal boulevard, tons of street vendors littering the streets.

Harry had bought a piece of apple pie, giving Louis bites of it with his free hand even after he said he didn’t want any. 

They kept walking for a while until they found themselves in the middle of watching a local band playing covers in the sidewalk, pie finished long ago and a small crowd gathered in a semicircle when he felt Harry move from his side for the first time in the whole night, Louis opening his mouth to ask what was going on when Harry held him from behind, chin propped up on his shoulder. Louis relaxed into his embrace, looking at the front, Harry’s curls tickling his cheek.

 _“I promise I'm the one for you."_ The frontman of the band sang, Harry tightening his grip around Louis.

 _“_ Do you like this?”

A heartbeat passed before Louis replied. “The song?”

The boy only hummed, swinging them lightly side to side without letting him go.

“Yes, I do.” Louis spoke, voice impossibly quiet, so quiet that if Harry hadn’t been paying attention, completely attuned to him he would’ve missed it in the sound of the band playing and the noise of people walking nearby.

_Just let me hold you in these arms tonight._

He tugged Louis closer to him, both arms curling around his waist, pressing them completely back to chest, feeling warm spread in the inside of his body so strongly he was sure he would start glowing in any moment.

Louis just sighed happily, putting his hands on top of the other guy’s, looking calm in a way he only did with those he trusted, soft and pliant between Harry’s arms.

[♡]

_And I know I can be difficult and hard to understand, but for a reason so far you’ve stuck around._

Louis was sitting outside Harry’s door.

“Harry, can you please open?”

He heard shuffling behind the door, no reply coming through. He turned around to sit looking at it, raising his fist to knock on the dark wood.

Harry didn’t open.

Louis sighed, letting his forehead drop on it. “H…”

“Just leave.” Harry’s voice came from the other side, sounding as if he were sitting on the floor too. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”

_Please don't leave me now._

“I’m not leaving when you feel bad. This… this isn’t the way we are with each other.” he knocked on the door again, three taps after speaking. “Let me in. Please?”

“I don’t want to be a burden.” Harry mumbled, Louis being able to hear him fiddling around, fingers tapping against his floor. “You have work tomorrow and it’s late, and you know I hate it when you drive in the middle of the night.”

_When you’re gone it just feels so goddamn dreary._

“Who says I’m going to drive back at this hour?” Louis’ voice softened. “H. You’re the one that always says you’re never giving me no for an answer. Just let me in.”

“Don’t use that on me right now. You’re going to get sick if you come inside. Please. I’m just trying to take care of you.”

Louis sighed exasperatedly. “I want to take care of you, too. I wish you could just let me instead of protesting it.” he gave a knock again. “I know you feel down, but I want to be there to help you feel better even if that means making, I don’t know… chicken soup or something like that.”

He heard a hum of laughter, door opening in front of him and showing a Harry with red rimmed, teary eyes. “You would cook for me?”

Louis stood up, raising his hands to softly thumb over Harry’s eyelids, removing the remnants tears clinging to his eyelashes. “Yes, I would.”

_And I wanna be there for you too._

[♡]

“What if we…” Harry slurred out, a bottle of wine clutched to his chest, back resting against the front of Louis’ couch.

Louis was mirroring him, sitting by his side. He reached out to pluck the bottle from between his arms, taking a swing of it before speaking. “What if we what?”

_I think we could do it if we tried._

“Mmmh. Nothing. Forget it.” Harry moved to take the wine back, Louis putting it behind his back. “Hey, gimme.”

“Tell me first.” he argued, frowning and pouting in Harry’s direction, both guys drunker than they thought they would get. “What if we… what?”

Harry poked at his pout, giving him a silly smile. “You’re so cute, Lou.”

“Please tell me” Louis whined, taking the hand on his lips by the wrist. “Please?”

The other boy sighed, looking at him with glazed misty eyes, green clashing with blue. “What if we dated?” he asked, Louis’ breath leaving his body once his drunk brain processed the question. 

Harry started humming, not noticing the way Louis’ hand tightened around his wrist. “ _I think we could do it if we tried…”_ he leaned to the front, never breaking eye contact. “ _If only to say you’re mine…”_

_If only to say you're mine._

Louis was looking at Harry with wide eyes, wrist still grasped in his hand, heart going impossibly quick in his chest. 

Harry kept singing at him in a low voice, Louis suddenly hyper aware of his proximity to his face. He could catch a whiff of Harry’s cologne and something else, something that made his scent be _his_ and that was driving him wild, stilling when Harry’s free hand came up to grasp at the side of his neck softly, voice crooning “ _You know I’ll do anything you ask me to.”_

Louis let out a barely audible whimper, Harry thumbing at his bottom lip. He leaned his head upwards almost involuntarily, seeing Harry’s eyes falling to his lips, seconds later returning to look at him in the eyes, hand on his neck making him feel like someone had lit him up in fire from inside out. 

Harry leaned in, Louis’ hand finally unclasping his wrist and going to clutch at his grey hoodie by the front, both of Harry’s hands on his neck this time. “ _But, oh my god, I think I’m in love with you.”_

He moved one of his hands to circle around Louis’ waist, Louis’ lips parting when Harry’s face came closer, head leaning up and body being softly pushed backwards by the taller guy, the air around them completely charged, almost as if it were pulling them together. 

Louis closed his eyes, letting Harry move his body as he pleased, feeling him thumb at the point where his jawline met his neck and just wanting _more_ , _more, more_ of him.

Then there was a crash.

Louis’ head snapped to the side. “Oh my god.” he let out a gasp when he saw his light brown rug stained in a deep red colour, Harry groaning and dropping his forehead on Louis' shoulder. 

“I’m sorry. For the rug, I mean” he mumbled, eyelids drooping shut. 

“Don’t worry about it.” the blue eyed boy sighed, looking down at Harry with longing. “Let’s go to sleep. You can’t drive home like this and I can’t take you either.” he murmured, Harry nodding and both of them standing up, Louis still clutching Harry close by the front of his hoodie, as if he couldn’t bear the thought of letting him go after… after _that_ happened.

Harry smiled softly at him, starting to walk in direction to his room, which meant Louis was walking backwards. 

Only once they were in bed Harry spoke again, legs tangled and fingers tracing figures on Louis’ back while he thought the other boy was sleeping, voice a slow whisper in the middle of the night. “ _I'll be here 'til the end of time, wishing that you were mine”._

Louis could only pray his breath hitching at the words didn’t betray his façade, eventually being lulled into sleep by Harry’s fingers moving on his back, both of them falling asleep.

The next morning, Louis woke up to Harry making breakfast. 

He also didn’t remember anything that had happened the night before.

[♡]

“Hey.” Harry spoke up, making Louis look away from his plate and direct his blue eyes towards him.

“Hey, you.” he smiled, making Harry smile back at him.

The boy had a soft expression in his face as he watched Louis cut his pie carefully. “I know I don’t say it often, but it makes me very happy to have met you.”

Louis chuckled, setting his fork aside. “Even when I’m always bothering you about keeping your stuff in order?”

_Please don't change a single little thing for me._

“Especially when you’re telling me off because of that.” Harry retorted back, fond gaze lowering to his plate when he felt a smile take over his face. “What would my life be without you?”

“Oh, a big mess, that’s for sure.” Louis deadpanned, grinning cutely at Harry’s fake offended expression when he heard his words. “I’m happy I met you too, H.”

_I was all on my own, almost glad to be alone._

_Until love came in on time, on time._

[♡]

When they went to Switzerland for Louis’ 24th birthday it felt as if someone had pulled them out of their normal lives and instead had pushed them into a movie scene, impossibly blue lakes and tiny picturesque houses making it seem straight out of a fairytale.

Louis was mesmerized by the scenery.

Harry was mesmerized by Louis.

Louis, and his way of fitting in any place he visited, people gifting him smiles from left to right and being charmed off of their feet by him even if they had only shared a couple words. Louis, who somehow managed to get them both invited at the birthday party of a small girl that had talked to him because she thought he looked like a prince. Louis, the only person that could’ve met a couple conformed by an ex soldier and a CEO of a South Korean fashion company, both of them having had to run away to be able to be together, Louis immediately hitting it off with them both and exchanging phone numbers, inviting both of them over to their home and narrating their love story over a cup of coffee (and tea, for Louis).

Harry could only watch, completely and irrevocably taken by the boy that seemed to have the galaxy in his eyes and the sunshine in his smile, the whole world dying to have a piece of his attention.

And what made him the happiest, the thing that never failed to make him feel all warm and grateful was that at the end of the day, Louis always came back to him, stories dripping from between his lips and fitting himself right in Harry’s heart, taking up more and more space with each passing day. 

_Take my hand, take my whole life, too. For I can't help falling in love with you._

[♡]

“You’re _not_ pulling an all nighter, Louis.”

“I _am_ pulling an all nighter, Harry.” Louis shuffled through the manuscript, gaze looking up at the clock in the wall. 2:10 am. “It’s not like I’ve never pulled them before, you know.”

“That was back in _college_. Years ago.”

The boy sighed, putting the call on speaker and dropping the phone on his desk. “I really, _really_ have to finish translating this manuscript by tomorrow, H. I can sleep after that.”

_When you need a hand, I will be your friend._

“Louis.”

“Yes, Harry?”

Harry looked from the phone to his car keys, then to the door. “What language is it in?”

_You don't have to feel alone._

“Hm, the manuscript? Why?”

“Curiosity.” he mumbled, taking his keys and walking to his closet, grabbing a thick jacket. “So? What language?”

The line stayed in silence before Louis replied. “No. You’re not driving here to help me. No.”

“I know you’re dying to get at least half an hour of sleep, Louis.” Louis could hear Harry’s door closing through the phone call, making him drop his forehead on top of the manuscripts.

“I don’t see the correlation.”

“I don’t have anywhere to be tomorrow, day off and all of that.” Louis stayed in silence, Harry speaking up again. “The manuscript is in french, right?”

“Yes, it is.” Louis mumbled, raising his head and putting the phone to his ear. “I can’t stand you and your constant worrying over my sleep schedule, H.”

Harry just let out a laugh, getting in his car. “See you in a bit, Lou.”

[♡]

Harry walked into the art gallery, posh people and guys giving out champagne flutes being the first thing he saw. His green eyes started roaming around, falling into a pair of blue ones staring right back at him, almost as if they had been waiting for him to arrive since the event started.

Louis walked up to him, wrapped up in a perfectly fitted black suit, hugging every place of his body and making him look absolutely out of this world. He was putting all the paintings and exhibitions to shame just with the way he looked, walking the way only a person that knows they own the place they’re stepping in would do. The sight of him made Harry’s breath hitch.

_I didn’t wanna fall, but then I stepped right in._

Once he was within reaching distance Harry took a step forward, eyes scanning every inch of him, trying to engrave every little detail into his brain. Louis tilted his head, a curious glance on his eyes, staring right at Harry.

“I didn’t think you could make it.” he spoke, a smile appearing onto his face.

Harry felt as if someone had dumped sand on him, mouth dry and jaw slackened. He shook his head, making Louis laugh. “Got permission to leave work early so… surprise, I’m here.” he finished, returning Louis’ smile. 

He noticed Louis was barely paying attention to his words, eyes fixated on his chest. He took another step forward, bringing them way closer, making Harry feel like someone had knocked the wind out of his body at Louis’ proximity. “H, your tie is crooked.”

Harry groaned in a low volume, looking down at himself. “I fixed it right before entering” he mumbled, hands reaching up to fix it when Louis covered them with his own.

_It felt like just one big whirlwind, one big emotional whirlwind._

“Here, just, let me…” Louis took the tie between his hands, long eyelashes framing his focused blue eyes, fingers quickly straightening it on the center and smoothing it over once he was done, smiling with satisfaction. “There. It looks pretty again.” he looked up at Harry, finding a fond look on his gaze and a tiny smile curling at his lips, like a private gesture meant just for him.

One of his hands grabbed Louis’, pressing the back of it in his mouth, dropping a tiny kiss there, cradling it to his chest right after.

“Thank you.”

They gave each other cute smiles, Louis’ eyes crinkling and making Harry want to swoop him up and kiss him senseless when a waiter walked quickly behind Louis, pushing him straight into Harry, Louis’ hands clutching on the tie he had just fixed and Harry’s hands coming to clutch at his waist, both of them still staring into each other’s eyes.

_Oh what a cliché, but to be honest, it made my day._

[♡]

Louis found a piece of paper in Harry’s desk once. 

They had been hanging out at his house lately, Harry too busy with work he couldn’t go see Louis when he left the office. Both of them felt upset about it, so Louis retorted to a solution that would be a win-win for everyone: him going to Harry’s instead of Harry going to his place.

“You don’t have to keep coming, Louis. I know you’re busy too.” Harry was sitting at his desk, highlighter in hand and glasses perched on his face, curly hair mussed up from how many times he had run his hands through it. 

Louis was in a similar state on the couch, his own glasses resting on his nose and a manuscript in one hand, sharpened pencil in the other. He frowned when Harry finished speaking, looking up from the papers to him across the living room.

“I’ve been busier. Besides, I wanted to come and see you.” he said, making Harry look back at him. “And I also missed your food.” Louis added with a light tone, the other boy cracking a smile at that.

“Speaking of. What do you want for dinner?” Harry took out his glasses, putting them on top of a book. “I was thinking of something light, like crepes.”

Louis nodded, watching Harry get up and make his way to the kitchen. “Want me to help you?”

“Nope.” he replied, starting to open his cabinets. “This is my thank you for the fact that you came all the way here.”

The blue eyed boy huffed out a laugh, standing up from the couch and stretching until his back popped, walking towards Harry’s desk. “Whatever you say.” he murmured, starting to pick up crushed paper sheets and throwing them into the bin. 

He was in the middle of rearranging and tidying the desk when he saw it, a ripped piece of paper folded in half by Harry’s computer. Louis opened it, recognising Harry’s quick scrawled letters immediately.

_“Flowers bloomed when he walked. Angels sang when he talked.” I heard this line way back once in the radio and the first thing that came to my mind was you. I thought I was going crazy, asking myself how can someone feel that strongly about another person? But as I’m watching you do nothing else besides reading and marking up notes, I can only think of how you make even the simplest things become something special._

Louis was reading the note for a second time, a blush starting to creep up on his cheeks when Harry walked out of the kitchen, making him jump and stick the note in the pocket of his black trousers. He quickly continued throwing papers away, feeling Harry walk up to him and give him a light peck on his temple, murmuring a “thank you” before grabbing his phone from the desk and leaving him there, shock still present in his face.

His mind was repeating the words in a loop, turning to look at the boy walking to the kitchen.

_If you think those things about me, why have you never told me?_

[♡]

After dinner, Harry fell asleep in his living room, Louis covering him with a blanket before standing up to leave. 

Just as he walked past the couch he felt a hand shoot up to grab his wrist, stopping him from going further. Louis turned to look at Harry, who was already watching him with sleepy eyes and messed up hair.

_I know it's getting late now, baby._

_“_ Don’t go home.”

The folded piece of paper was burning a hole in his pocket as Harry let out those words. Louis didn’t reply, Harry tugging on his wrist slightly. “Stay with me. It’s too late.”

_Maybe you should stay here with me._

Louis nodded, eyes locked with Harry’s. “‘Kay. But get up from there and go to bed, your back will hurt tomorrow if you don’t.”

Harry yawned, standing up from the couch and walking until he was in front of Louis, giving him a fond smile. “I love it when you stay here”, he murmured, dropping a peck on the boy’s forehead and making a bee line to his room, Louis’ wrist still clutched in his hand.

Louis could do nothing else but follow him, eyes looking at Harry’s hand grasping him tightly. 

_Let's just make it our own party, stick together like glitter._

[♡]

The playlist stopped, tears dripping down Louis’ face and hands shaking, mouth opened in a quiet gasp and eyebrows frowning, panting as if he had run a marathon and barely got to the finishing line before passing out. 

He felt like someone had thrown a huge bucket of cold water onto him, screaming in his face _do you see it now? Do you see how he’s head over heels for you? Have you finally noticed how you're also in love with him despite your constant denying through the years?_

Louis let out a shaky breath, eyes finding the screen of the iPod again, memories appearing in his mind when his eyes hovered over every song, just the way they had played in his head when he was listening to them. 

He felt like he was watching a movie of two people falling for each other, only for then to realise _he_ was the one starring in it next to the best friend he had loved his whole life. 

He had never noticed how much that love went out from friendship to not only tiptoeing, but crossing the line of _something-else_ more times than he wanted to admit. All the touches he convinced himself were just friendly, all the kisses Harry always seemed to leave imprinted on his body, making those places feel like a lingering burn even long after he broke the contact.

And then there was that _almost_ kiss he had completely forgotten about until he heard _that_ song, memories rushing into his mind, taking him back to that day where both of them were drunk on wine and apparently also drunk on _love_ . He couldn’t believe Harry had quite literally _serenaded_ him, and basically admitted to being in love with him. All in the span of a few minutes.

But he then remembered Harry never brought that night up, that fact making him deflate like a balloon that had been pinched with something sharp. 

Louis’ heart felt like it was about to die from an overdose of emotions. He had _just_ found out he loved Harry, actually _loved_ him as more than only a best friend and he was already thinking about the fact that Harry might not like him back.

 _He has a playlist of songs that make him think of you,_ a voice inside of him said impatiently, pulling him out of his train of sad thoughts. _If he didn’t want you back why would he even have it? You’re smarter than this, Louis._

He shot up from his bed, taking out his laptop and throwing it on top of his bed, turning away and going straight to the room where his piano was, phone clutched tightly in his hand.

Harry handed him his feelings in a playlist. It was only fair he returned the sentiment the same way.

[♡]

Harry felt like he was going to make a hole through the wall with the way he was staring at it, frustrated and annoyed. That day hadn’t been good at _all_. He had a thousand deadlines he still had to finish, hadn’t even had time to eat breakfast that morning, had probably lost his iPod somewhere he couldn’t even recall and on top of that, he hadn’t heard of Louis at all.

He thought that was enough explanation for the way he was feeling, coworkers scared of approaching him to hand in even _more_ work, driving him completely crazy.

“Styles, there’s someone waiting for you downstairs.”

Harry shot his gaze from the wall to the guy that had just spoken to him, so quickly he thought he would have broken his neck if he had done it quicker. “What?”

The guy looked annoyed now. “There’s someone waiting for you downstairs. Some guy… Tomlinson, I think? He said it was important so Clare decided to let you leave early.”

“Thanks, Nate.” he said, the other boy nodding while Harry gathered his things quickly, almost running downstairs.

He found Louis leaning on the wall outside the building, fiddling with his phone.

“Is everything okay?”

Louis almost dropped the phone, turning to look at him. “Oh my god, you scared me.”

Harry stepped up closer, inspecting his face. “They told me you said something important happened. Is everything good?” he asked again, watching how Louis’ cheeks acquired a beautiful pink tone to them, gaze moving towards his phone.

“Ah, that. Um, I just. Missed you, that’s all.” he mumbled, Harry’s heart melting in his chest at the sight of a shy Louis. “God, I’m sorry, you’re probably really busy right now…”

“Hey.” Harry shushed him, taking his chin in his hand and raising his head. “I’m never too busy for you.”

Louis was two seconds away from begging him to get over it and kiss him when he saw Harry’s eyes scanning his body, a spark behind his glance. “That coat looks a little big on you, don’t you think?” he spoke, hand dropping to tug at the lapels on it. 

“Hm, I wonder why that might be.” Louis replied, tilting his head to the side and putting on a confused face. “Almost as if it wasn’t mine.” he whispered, making Harry laugh. He spoke again once Harry’s laughter quieted. “I like it. It’s warm.” _A_ _nd it smells of your cologne. It reminds me of you._

“You can keep it, if you want.” Harry replied, hands still in the lapels. “It looks better on you, as everything I own.”

Louis let out a nervous breath, biting his lower lip. “Maybe I was just made to wear your clothes.” 

“Yes, maybe” the boy agreed, tugging Louis into his arms by the lapels and hugging him, burying his face in his hair. “I missed you, too.”

Louis hid his face in Harry’s neck, one hand surrounding him and the other slipping the iPod into the pocket of the coat he was wearing.

Now, he just had to wait.

[♡]

When Harry got home he threw his bag on top of his desk, throwing his coat on top of it when he heard something hit hardly against it.

He frowned, taking the coat between his hands again and patting it down, feeling something in one of the bags. When he took it out he saw it was his iPod, puzzled expression on his face. That iPod wasn’t there that morning, or the days before. It hadn’t been in his hands for days. 

The boy then looked at the earphones, perfectly untangled and wrapped around the device, mind going back to all the times Louis pried them away from his hands to rearrange them perfectly, saying how he would end up ruining them if he kept tangling them a lot.

Harry felt the colour drain from his face when he turned it on and saw Louis’ playlist open on the screen.

He closed his eyes, rubbing over his face with his hand and then opened them again. And there it was, _Loulou’s playlist_ flashing in front of his eyes as a reminder of his years-long pining for his best friend. Someone who probably would never want him back the same way he did. He let out a frustrated sigh, the screen making him feel embarrassed. _What if I weirded him out and he never wants to speak to me ever again?_

It wasn’t until he thumbed over the songs, after he decided to delete any evidence of him being painfully cheesy over a guy he could never have that he saw it, at the bottom of the songs.

AUDIO.FILE - LOUISTOMLINSON

Harry blinked once, twice, but the file was there, right after the last song he had added the last time he opened that playlist. It burned in his eyes, Louis’ name right there.

 _Maybe it’s his way of rejecting me?_ He thought, putting in his headphones, taking a deep breath and clicking on it.

Nothing was coming out of the headphones for a few seconds. 

Then, something did.

[♡]

Harry drove so fast over to Louis’ house the brakes of his car made an awful sound when he pulled up in front of it, pretty sure he had left imprints of the wheels on the street pavement. He walked up to the house, passing through the gate and walking straight to the door, stopping right in front of it.

_What if he’s sleeping?_

He was about to ring for Louis to unlock the door when he noticed it wasn’t even closed, a tiny gap indicating Louis had left it open. Harry breathed in deeply, moving the speech of safety to the back of his mind. He didn’t drive all the way to Louis’ house at almost midnight just to scold him for not locking his door properly.

Harry pushed the door open, removing his shoes and moving past the threshold, stopping when he saw Louis pacing around his living room, biting at one of the knuckles in his fingers, looking lost in thought. His steps faltered, not knowing if he should interrupt him. He was about to turn back when Louis turned again, pausing and then looking up, meeting his gaze across the space between them.

He was about to apologise when he noticed his hoodie hanging off of Louis’ delicate frame, which made him spring back to the reason he had gone there, taking big steps until they were front to front, hands raising to grasp the black fabric between his fingers. 

His voice came out way softer than he had expected it to, breaking at the end of his sentence. “You always wear my clothes. Even when you have an entire wardrobe others would kill to own, you put on everything I’ve given you.” 

“Why do you think I do it?” Louis looked up at him, eyes almost pleading. “Why did you never tell me, H?”

“I didn’t want to scare you away.” He paused, sighing. “You’re the most important person in my life. There’s nothing I wanted less than losing you.” Harry muttered, hands loosening over the fabric. 

Louis brought his own hands up, covering Harry’s with his own cold ones. “I always wondered…” he started, Harry looking into his eyes. “I always wondered why my friendship with you was so different to my friendship with others. Why I felt the need to be close to you and wanting that _you_ wanted to hold me. And I just.” He looked down, taking a step forward and resting his forehead against Harry’s chest. “I always brushed it off.”

Harry couldn’t avoid the fond smile that made its way to his lips, squeezing louis’ hands. “You’ve always been oblivious to some stuff. I just never thought me being in love with you fell into that category too.”

Louis made a little grunt, going to let go of Harry’s hands, making the other guy laugh at his reaction and pull him closer, clutching him with one arm around his waist, the other going to tug at the hoodie strings the same way he had done that day he had given it to him, what felt had been way, way back even when it happened only a few days ago.

“Hey. Don’t run away. Not from me.” Louis looked up to him, suddenly looking more nervous than he had before.

“Did you… did you hear it?” 

Harry moved the hand that had been tugging at the hoodie to Louis’ neck, cradling it the way he had done when they were drunk. He gave Louis a smile that said _yes, I did._ A smile that made his entire body want to go pliant between his arms.

“ _Be my baby”_ Harry sang, making Louis’ breath hitch in his throat, a small, barely audible gasp making its way through his lips at the words. He knew that line. He recorded himself singing it for Harry.

Harry clutched him impossibly closer, moving them until the back of his knees found the border of the white couch, sitting on it and tugging Louis softly until he landed next to him. He moved into his space again, Louis’ hands going to clutch at the front of his shirt while the other guy found his way to his waist and neck once more, almost like they were made to be held by him. 

Louis could do nothing but look up at him through dazed eyes, this time fully conscious of every touch, every tiny spark resulting from the touch of Harry in him, his entire self buzzing with an incredible sense of wanting and longing he never knew could be possible.

“ _You’ve begun to feel like home”_ Harry leaned in, Louis’ body arching into his, almost begging for more. The tall guy just toppled both of them down, hand sneaking to hold his waist below the hoodie.

Harry planted an open mouthed kiss on the place where his jaw and neck met, making Louis let out a whimper he didn’t even know was holding back. He moved his mouth upwards slowly towards his ear, still speaking in a husky voice that made Louis’ entire existence feel like jelly between his hands. “ _What’s mine is yours to leave or take.”_

He pressed another kiss, this time to his cheekbone, Louis tilting his chin upwards, speaking with a desperate, high-pitched, wanting voice. “Harry, I swear to god, if you don’t kiss me I’m going to run far, far away from you and never come back.”

Harry shook his head, an amused smile planted on his face. He placed his free hand on Louis’ neck, thumb caressing his lips slowly before moving it below his chin, propping it up towards his face. “ _What’s mine is yours to make your own_.” he said, eyes taking in Louis’ wanting, pliant expression before finally dipping down and connecting their lips, kissing him with the desire he had been keeping inside of him for years, Louis whimpering again when he parted his lips, Harry’s own mouth just taking and taking from his, as if Louis’ lips and mouth were the best thing he had ever tasted in his life.

Louis was sure he wasn’t on earth. He was on his way to another place, probably _not_ heaven taking in consideration the thoughts he was having, the noises his body let out without his permission at Harry’s hands on his waist, Harry’s hands on his neck, feeling completely and irrevocably wrapped up in him.

Harry kissed the same way he talked, slow and deep and like they had all the time in the world to make out until their lips were raw from suckling and red from biting.

Not that he was complaining. Not at all. He could happily spend his life like that. After tasting his lips once, he never wanted to stop, completely sure he was already addicted to the feeling of Harry caging him in his sofa, body covering him completely and pinning him down, making him just _take_ everything he had to give, Louis complying happily, tugging Harry closer until they were just a mess of tangled legs and messed up hair, Louis arching up into the other boy and Harry clutching him happily against himself.

They parted away slowly, Louis not wanting to break it off despite needing to breathe in, giving Harry tiny kisses every time he went to pull apart. He could feel Harry’s smile on his lips, finally moving a few inches away and looking down at him, green eyes filled with love and happiness and _want_.

A happy grin was talking over his face, Harry looking completely unabashed at the fact that he was just showing how head over heels he had fallen for Louis. “You have no idea how many times I wanted to do that.”

Louis looked at him through his eyelashes, raising one of his hands to put it at the back of his neck. Harry said nothing, just let Louis do as he pleased, blue eyes making him feel like he was drowning in them. 

The other boy just pulled him towards his body again, chin tilting up and a mischievous smile coming across his face before he had Harry’s lips in reaching distance again, speaking softly. “Why don’t we do it some more, then?”

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to comment !
> 
> You can find the fic post [here](https://defencelesside.tumblr.com/post/616876760822382592/i-didnt-wanna-fall-but-then-i-stepped-right-in).
> 
> And you can find me on [tumblr](https://defencelesst.tumblr.com) :)


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